Friday, July 17, 2009

Pope expected to resume activities after wrist injury and treatment

Associated Press Fri Jul 17, 12:21 PM ET

In this photo provided by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Benedict XVI greets hospital staff as he leaves the Regional Hospital after a surgery on his right wrist, seen in a cast, in Aosta, northern Italy, Friday, July 17, 2009. Benedict XVI emerged smiling from the hospital Friday after undergoing surgery for a broken wrist due to a fall at his Alpine vacation chalet. Doctors said his right arm would be in a cast for a month.(AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano, ho)Enlarge photo...

AFP Fri Jul 17, 3:51 PM ET

The Vatican said surgeons operated on Pope Benedict XVI after the pontiff fell and broke his right wrist while on holiday in northern Italy.(AFP Graphics)Enlarge photo...

Pope Benedict XVI broke his wrist in a fall at his vacation home in the Italian Alps on July 17.

Father Federico Lombardi, the papal spokesman, said that the Pope's injury was a "slight fracture of the right wrist," incurred when the 82-year-old Pope slipped in his bathtub. The Holy Father was able to celebrate Mass and have breakfast before making the decision to have his injury checked at the hospital in nearby Aosta, he said.

At the hospital, the Pope refused preferential treatment, insisting that doctors treat other patients before examining him. An X-ray revealed the fracture, and doctors performed an operation-- with the Pope under "light" sedation-- to repair the bone. The operation was described as completely successful, and the Pope is expected to resume his vacation, with his movements (including, presumably, his beloved piano practice) inhibited by a cast.